Syrae wiped the back of his hand across his forehead, smearing sweat and dust over his skin. Hot. It was always hot in Essyrn and Syrae, Essyrn born and bred, was used to the heat. But today it was really hot. He could the sun burning his already suntanned face where it wasn't covered by a protective veil, and the wind didn't help any; it just blew the sand around and made it all annoying.
Huffing a breath that made the cloth covering his mouth and nose poof out, he stood up, brushed sand off of his clothes, and then picked up his double-bladed staff. He was on guard duty today and it was lame, lame, lame. With the weather all hot, not many travelers had been by Essyrn lately and the desert before him was bare and...sandy. Not even the jackrabbits were out today, hiding deep in their burrows and no doubt waiting for the cool of night to come out again.
It was such a dull job.
Thirsty, he walked the short distance from his spot by the city's entrance over to the river that flowed through it and out of it, pausing once to pick a pebble out of his sandal before crouching by the river's edge and sipping water out of his hands. The river was deep, but it looked a little shallower lately. With a sigh, Syrae removed his veil and set it aside by his spear so he could splash water on his face. Hopefully the weather would let up soon before--
He froze. In the midst of cooling off, a shape in the water caught his eye. At first he thought it was discarded clothing or something, but when he did a double-take he saw it was--
"Shit!" he yelped, scrambling backwards and falling back onto his rear with a grunt. A body! Was that a body?! Had there been a murder?! Heart thumping in his chest, Syrae looked toward the city, then back at the thing that was floating slowly by, and he sprang to his feet to go tell someone before freezing in sudden indecision. Oh shit, oh shit--wait, what if it wasn't dead?
If it wasn't, it would be if he didn't fish it out.
But it was in the river.
And Syrae couldn't swim.
Bouncing from one foot to the other, not knowing what to do, an idea struck then and he stooped to pick up his spear. He dropped down onto his knees at the river's edge where the body currently was. He reached out into the water with his spear, prodding carefully with the side of the blade to nudge the person closer to the bank and praying he didn't injure the fellow in the process. Finally, finally when it was close enough, he shoved the spear aside, grabbed onto whatever he could reach, prayed he wouldn't topple in, and with a grunt and a pull hauled the body out onto the sandy bank and then rolled it over onto its back.
As it turned out, it was a man. And he didn't look good.
"Hey? Hey! You alive?" Syrae slapped the man's cheeks, then gave his shoulders a shake. "C'mon, don't be dead...don't tell me I just rescued a corpse...c'mon..."
